SALT LAKE CITY — Mark Maw learned he had a serious problem with his heart seventeen years ago.

“I was really tired — no energy,” he said. “My heart doctor said, ‘You got a leaky heart valve.'”

Maw underwent open-heart surgery to repair it. Years later, doctors found an aneurysm on the aorta — the main artery carrying blood from the heart.

“He was like a walking time bomb,” said Mark’s wife, Yvonne Maw. “If your aorta bursts, you have no chance.”

Because of his age and medical history, traditional open-heart surgery carried serious risks.

“That’s tough the first time around, tougher the second time around,” said Dr. John Doty, cardiothoracic surgeon at Intermountain Health.

Surgeons at Intermountain Health offered Maw something new — a less invasive way to repair the aorta , without

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